Old Acquaintance
by Jen K
Summary: Sequel to Christmas Wishes. In the days leading up to New Year's Eve, Lois must deal with her newfound knowledge about Clark.
1. Chapter 1

_Note to Reader: This is a sequel to _Christmas Wishes_. A few people mentioned that they wouldn't expect Lois to take the news well after learning the truth and I completely agree. But it makes for a happier one-shot not to delve into those issues. Needless to say, the Lois I envision is not happy when she finally grasps the truth. But I don't think she'll be mad forever…maybe only until Valentine's Day when 12 Days of Clois returns?_

**Old Acquaintances **

The world was spinning around Lois Lane. She wasn't sure what had just happened. It was as if Superman had possessed the body of Clark Kent. Her thoughts were muddled, trying to comprehend how this had happened. Was this some sort of weird dream? A hallucination brought on by stress? Or was it the practical joke of an angel with a sense of humor who happened to overhear her wish?

For the briefest of moments his warm lips grazed her own, inviting her – beckoning her – to kiss him back.

But she didn't.

She stood motionless, paralyzed by confusion. Then she said to herself: _Lois Lane, don't look a gift a horse in the mouth… Literally._ Normally she would have smirked at the joke in her head but she was still too confused. Instead she decided, however it was that Superman had come to her in the form of Clark Kent, this was what she had wished for; this was what she wanted. She heeded her instincts.

He had begun to retreat from her stiff reception, mistaking her confusion for rejection. Lois awoke from her stupor, breaking free from her paralysis. She reached for him, cupping her hands around his face, bringing him to her and she began kissing him more passionately than she ever kissed anyone before.

His lips were sweet and familiar; his breath was unnaturally cool. His strong hands supported her as he ran them slowly down her back while he returned her kisses. Lois was momentarily transported to a time six years ago, back before he left and everything changed.

Warm tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't contain them.

He must have felt them because he pulled back. He used his thumb to wipe away a stray tear, "Please don't cry, Lois."

"You don't understand," she tried to hold back, but this seemed to only make her cry harder. Between sobs she managed to mutter, "It's like I've been dead for these last six years. And just now… I felt alive again."

He stared back at her, unable to contain the sheer bliss in his eyes upon hearing her speak those words.

She put her fingers up to his cheek, first to make sure that he was real, and then to feel the contours of his face, trying to comprehend what had happened to Clark Kent.

She stood there mesmerized by the man in front of her. She was still crying but he gently stroked her hair and assured her, "Shhhh. It's going to be OK."

He suddenly stiffened and pulled away. "Someone's coming."

She watched as he bent down to pick up the pair of glasses Lois didn't recall dropping.

"It's Richard," he added. He looked at her one last time with longing, sighed, and put on the frames.

The man in front of her had the appearance of Clark but he was unrecognizable to her. No, after everything that had just happened she didn't see Clark Kent anymore. But she didn't see Superman either. The man standing before her was a stranger.

He put his hand on her shoulder, "We'll talk more later."

The heavy door creaked open and Richard emerged on the rooftop. "I've been looking all over for you."

Lois looked at her fiancé and then back at Clark. Couldn't he see what she saw? Didn't he see this stranger, this weird hybrid of Clark Kent and Superman?

Richard stared at her, waiting for her to say something; Lois felt as if her mouth was locked shut.

It was Clark who broke the silence in an awkward, high pitched voice that seemed utterly foreign to her. "We were just talking."

Even though she wasn't quite sure she recognized him, the guilt in his voice was palpable. Richard's eyes darted suspiciously from Clark to Lois.

"Was she smoking again?" Richard asked Clark.

"No…no," he replied in a way that only seemed to confirm Richard's suspicions.

"Come on, Lois. We should get home to Jason." He turned to Clark and tried to lighten the situation, "The sitter is charging us an arm and a leg for working Christmas Eve."

Richard put his arms around Lois who was still frozen in place. He escorted her toward the doorway but stopped abruptly. Her heart pounded in her chest. _He knows,_ she thought. _He must have figured it out_.

"Clark…" Richard called out. Her heart beat faster. "Lois still has your jacket."

She was dizzy and for an instant she thought she would faint. But instead, she slipped her arms out of Clark's suit coat and handed it back to him.

………..

Richard and Lois drove home without talking. Six blocks from _The Daily Planet_ Lois' thoughts began to clear. Things fell into place and she truly started to understand what had been revealed to her: Superman was Clark Kent.

She was sick to her stomach. The magnitude of it all had finally sunk in.

"Stop the car!" she demanded.

Richard just looked at her. She put her hand on the wheel and shouted again, "Stop the car!"

He slammed on the brakes and the car came to an abrupt stop. She opened the door, got out, and threw up on the corner of Broadway and West 53rd street.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and got back in the car.

"You OK?" Richard asked.

"Yeah," she lied.

They drove the rest of the way home in silence.

……….

Lois finished wrapping the presents and placed them under the tree. She took a bite of the cookies left out for Santa, as she had done the five Christmases before. She took off her dress and hung it back in the closet and then changed into her nightgown. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. She went through all the perfunctory motions of her bedtime routine.

Richard was already in bed, looking at _The_ _New Yorker_. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't really reading. This was just a way for him to avoid eye contact – and conversation.

She slipped herself under the covers. He put the magazine down on the nightstand; he reached for the light but hesitated.

"You didn't come after me."

"What?" she asked, clueless about what he was referring to. Couldn't he see that she had _way_ bigger things that she was trying not to think about?

"When Cat said those things, I walked away. You didn't come after me."

She had no response.

Richard turned out the light.

…………

Jason woke up only a few hours after they had gone to bed. It didn't matter. Lois hadn't slept. She watched as he excitedly opened his presents.

He tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a bright red fire truck. He ran over to Lois and hugged her, "Thanks, Mom!"

"Anything for you, kiddo." For an instant as she hugged him back she forgot her worries. And then she realized this was _his_ son too. Clark Kent was his father. For an instant, she felt nauseous again.

Lucy and her husband came over mid-morning, along with their three kids to celebrate the holiday. Perry and his wife Alice joined them as well. Lois and Richard were able to keep up their façade as a happy couple. They had gotten used to performing by now.

She was able to keep it together through the whole day of Christmas celebrations. It was nine o'clock at night and their guests had all gone home. Richard was tucking Jason into bed while Lois was doing dishes in the kitchen, trying not to think about what had happened the night before, trying not to relive the feeling of his lips kissing hers, trying not to remember the utter confusion and betrayal she felt.

She couldn't take it any longer. She needed to talk to him. Lois grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and scrolled down the list of names. He wasn't there. It jumped from "Christopher M" to "Cleo". She checked under K. He wasn't there either. She went back to see if she had filed him under CK. She hadn't. God, how many times had she wanted to call up Superman… and now that this was a legitimate possibility, she didn't have Clark's number. She had the numbers of people she hadn't spoken to in years. Why didn't she have _his _number, her colleague whose desk was ten feet away from her own and who also, she now realized, happened to be the father of her child.

"Ahhh!" she groaned in frustration. Jimmy would have it, she decided, as she dialed his cell phone.

"Hey, Jimmy, it's Lois."

"Hi, Lois. Merry Christmas."

"Yeah," she grumbled in response. "Look, do you have Clark's cell phone number? I can't seem to find it."

"Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, everything is fine."

"Did something happen?"

She was trying not to raise her voice in frustration, "Nothing happened, I just need to talk to him."

"Oh," Jimmy answered on the other end of the line.

"It's something about work," She decided to add, realizing how suspicious she must sound. She grabbed for a pencil and paper from one of her kitchen drawers.

"He doesn't have a cell phone. I thought you knew that."

"What do you mean he doesn't have a cell phone? Who doesn't have a cell phone in this day and age?"

"I dunno. I guess he's old fashioned… or cheap. I have his home phone number though."

"He's in Kansas, or at least that's where he told me he'd be." God, he could be anywhere around the world right now.

"I've got that number, too. I was trying to get as many numbers in my cell phone as possible. I'm up to a hundred and thirty-three right now. Pretty impressive, huh?" Jimmy boasted. "It's ten more than Gil has right now…although he might have added some since I asked him."

"Great." Lois tapped the pencil impatiently. "Can I get the number?"

"Yeah, hold on. It's under Clark Kansas…"

Lois wrote down the numbers as Jimmy dutifully read them off. "Thanks, Jimmy."

"No problem. Tell him…" Before Jimmy could finish his sentence, Lois had hung up. She could apologize to Jimmy later. She dialed the number to Clark's home in Kansas.

"Hello," an old woman answered. It was his mother – no, some poor woman he had swindled into pretending to be his mother. She must be in on his ruse. What lengths he would go to in order to fool the world!

"I need to speak with Clark. Now."

The woman paused, most likely taken aback by Lois' brazenness. But she didn't care.

"One moment. Whom should I say is calling?"

_The mother of his child, _she thought, but decided not to answer that way. "It's Lois."

"Oh," she heard the woman on the other end reply. "One moment."

In the background, Lois could hear the woman's voice, "Clark, it's…" and then she heard him interrupt, "I know." He picked up the phone.

"Hi, Lois."

"Merry Christmas," she replied facetiously. "I need to talk to you. In person. How soon can you be back in Metropolis?"

"In less than a minute." She knew this to be true, but it surprised her nonetheless. "Meet me at my apartment. It's safe there. I'll be home by the time you get there."

_Damn it_. She didn't know where he lived. "What's the address?" She asked while trying to make sure she sounded sufficiently mad.

"Thirty-eight thirty-eight Shuster Avenue. Apartment number 12."

_Damn it_, she cursed again inwardly. She didn't know where that was. She didn't have the audacity to ask for directions; she was trying to keep the upper hand. _I'm going to have to Mapquest his apartment. As if this whole situation couldn't get any more pathetic._

"Fine!" She slammed her cell phone shut.

To be continued…

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

As Lois approached the door to his apartment, she shoved the printed directions back into her purse and prepared to knock on the door. Before she did, she took a deep breath and a moment to smooth the hair that she hadn't bothered to tame before hastily hopping in her car. And then she wondered – _can he see me?_ The thought sent cold shivers down her body.

She knocked on the door.

He answered practically instantaneously, as if waiting for her knock. This only deepened the disgust that coursed through her body. He was dressed in regular clothes and wore the glasses – the simple frames that served to ridicule her life.

"Lois," was all he said to greet her.

"_Clark_," she spat back in rebuttal, hoping that he caught the irony in her voice, for the man before her would never be Clark Kent again.

"Come in."

He opened the door wider and she stepped inside. She took a moment to look around the apartment. It was incredibly sparse – a couch, a TV that didn't appear to be hooked up, and a few pictures on an otherwise bare mantel. A few days, before knowing what she knew, this would seem to be exactly the kind of apartment that Clark Kent would live in. Plain. Boring. A few days ago she would feel a pang of guilt for him, for a man who's life seemed so dull and empty.

Now she knew that wasn't true.

He watched her look around the room and process the information_. This was where Superman lived._ She didn't like this feeling of being watched. But that was exactly what he had been doing all these years; he had invented a whole other persona so that he could spy on her at work.

Lois finally put her hands on her hips and cocked her eyebrows to signal to him that he had better start talking.

"I'm glad you came, Lois… I … I hope that you had a good Christmas." He looked down, avoiding her gaze as he said the last words.

"No. You do not get to say that to me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean… I guess I should just get to the point. You must have a lot of questions and I want to answer them as best I can."

There were a million things she wanted to ask yet she didn't know where to start. So she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Why don't you have a cell phone?"

He was taken aback by this, obviously having prepared himself for a more difficult question.

Lois knew that the wrath of her interrogation had yet to begin. There would be plenty of time for the harder questions. Maybe it was her years as a journalist that had taught her that it was most effective to start off easy, gain the trust of the interviewee, and then swoop in for the real meat of the story.

Or maybe it was just that this little detail, this annoyance, had eaten at her on her ride over here and she had to know the explanation. Was he above using cell phones, the mode of communication for the mere mortals? Did he just listen in on every conversation, waiting until his name was said aloud, so that he could surreptitiously appear as Clark Kent or Superman? Or was he just so alien that he didn't see why we bothered with this inferior technology?

"I don't have a cell phone because it can be traced. If left it on and flew off somewhere satellites could trace it. It would look suspicious and I don't want to risk that. It's been a bit of an inconvenience for work but so far I've managed to make due."

"For work?" she cried out in disbelief. "You call _The Daily Planet_ work?"

"Yes. It's my job."

"Funny, I thought it was saving people."

"I do both."

_How could he be so condescending?_

"Why do you mock me? Is this just some sort of elaborate joke? Oh, look at the lengths I can go to in order to fool Lois Lane! Or was it some twisted way to sneak into my life and stalk me?"

"You knew me as Clark before you ever knew me as Superman."

She tried to remember if this was true. She could very vividly recall her first meeting with Superman but she didn't know when she had first met Clark. Her mind was too clouded with anger to remember the details.

"Why? Why?" She demanded hysterically, all her former composure having completely evaporated.

He tried to reach out and comfort her.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled as she pushed away his hand. Her body was now shaking. She had to calm down; _he_ should be the one in hysterics.

After a deep breath she added, "You lied to me."

He backed away. Lois paced around the room, using this pause as an opportunity to regain her self-control. She looked at the few photos on the mantel, all of him and his parents, or at least the people who pretended to be his parents.

"How did you convince that poor woman to pretend to be your mother?"

"She's not pretending," he replied, almost as if he was offended by her question. "That woman _is_ my mother."

"Yeah, right. Did she come from Krypton too?" And for a moment Lois thought that maybe there were others on Earth like him living amongst us.

"No, she's not from Krypton, but she's the only mother I've ever known." She turned to him, perplexed by this answer.

"Listen to me, Lois. I know this is hard for you to believe, but I grew up in Smallville, Kansas. That wasn't a lie. My parents, Martha and Jonathon Kent, found me and took me in. They raised me as there own son…"

"They found you?"

"I was an infant when my biological parents sent me from Krypton. I didn't remember them - or Krypton for that matter."

"You never said anything…in any of the interviews. You never once mentioned that you were sent here as a child. You've been on Earth, what, thirty years?"

"If anyone even suspected that I was raised here on Earth, people would seek out my parents – well, my mother. They would try to use her to blackmail me and I couldn't risk that."

"Look, I get it. _That_ part you made abundantly clear to me before. You always said 'it's too risky for us to be together…if anyone found out…blah, blah, blah'. Its just… if you were really so concerned about the people in your life why be Clark at all?

"I'd go crazy if I had to be Superman all the time. Sometimes all I want is just a normal, everyday life and as Clark Kent I can do that… to a degree."

This surprised her. With power like that, why would one ever want to be normal? If she had the ability to fly, Lois thought to herself, she'd never choose to walk.

"Fine. Let's say that I can understand wanting a normal life. But why Clark? Why do you have to you have act so… so… so Clark Kent-ish?"

He smiled a somber, tortured smile. After a long, deep breath he replied, "I know that this is hard to understand but _I am Clark Kent_."

He paused, adding extra emphasis to his words.

"When people see me dressed as Superman, all they see is the icon. They see power; they see perfection. And, well, when I'm Superman, when I wear the suit and people look at me that way, it's easy to be confident, it's easy to act the part. But when I'm Clark I try not to be noticed. When people look at Clark… they see a nobody. It's liberating and frustrating all at the same time. I've lived my whole life feeling like I didn't fit in, never knowing the right thing to say. But that's who I really am. I'm just an awkward farmboy. I still feel overwhelmed by the city. Clark Kent is not an act… well, most of it's not an act. You have to believe me when I tell you that this is who I am."

Lois sighed not ready to accept this confession. She pressed on with her questions.

"Why did you have to choose _The Daily Planet_?"

"I was bitten by the journalism bug just like you. I want to bring truth to the world and right the wrongs that I can't always fight as Superman."

_Truth and justice_, Lois thought to herself. She should have known that if Superman had a career he'd pick journalism. It just never occurred to her that he'd have a "job" before now.

"So you want me to believe, the strongest, most powerful being in the world is just an awkward farmboy? And that he _likes_ being this awkward farmboy?"

"Yes."

"I need you to do something for me… in order for me to believe it."

"I'd do anything for you,"

"I need you to take me up, take me flying."

He began to pull the glasses from his face.

"No. I want you to take me up as Clark."

He took her hand and escorted her to the glass door leading to the balcony of his apartment. It was dark, so she hadn't noticed it before, but this door and the other windows in his apartment faced a brick wall. It reminded Lois of a story she had read back in high school but she couldn't remember the title.

"Nice view," she jested.

"No windows. I can come and go without anyone seeing."

It made her realize all the precautions he had taken in order to live this life.

He slid the glass door open and they stepped onto his small balcony. She held onto his arms, surprised by the muscles beneath his shirt. Lois braced herself and at the same time, she half expected him, dressed as he was, not to be able to fly.

"Hold on tighter," he instructed. "We're going up fast so no one sees."

And then they began to ascend rapidly. It wasn't like their prior romantic flights. It was sharp and quick and the sheer force was almost painful. But after a few seconds they slowed down and hovered amongst the clouds.

She looked at him, glasses and all, and it finally became real that he was Superman.

The stars were brighter up here away from the city lights; it was calm and for the first time since she had confronted him her thoughts were clear.

"Did you love me?"

"Yes. I've always loved you and I've never stopped."

"Then why didn't you tell me the truth before?"

"I wanted to protect you."

"Bullshit. You slept with me and you still couldn't tell me the truth."

"It was wrong of me, I know."

"Yeah, you think?"

"It was just… I saw the way you were around Superman. You barely noticed Clark. I was afraid you'd never feel the same way about me if you knew we were really the same person. I didn't want to risk losing your love even if it was contingent on a half-truth. I know that sounds selfish."

"It _was_ selfish. You deceived me." And then she thought to herself, _Your son was born of that deception._

"I'm sorry for that. I know my actions were inexcusable but you need to know that my whole life has been about restraint, about holding back, and giving up what I want for the sake of humanity. And I've always been OK with this; I've gotten good at it, except when it comes to you. You make me weak."

She looked down at the city lights below and beheld their glory. She was succumbing to the enchantment of the moment, and the power of his words, but there were still too many things she needed to know.

"So when you came back, when you found out you had a son, why didn't you tell me then?"

"Because you seemed happy with Richard. And as Superman, I'll never be able to be there for Jason like Richard could."

"I'm not so sure that's true."

He attempted, unsuccessfully, to hide his delight at her response.

"I mean, he's going to need you to teach him about his abilities."

"I'll be there for him as much as you want me to be," he answered matter-of-factly. He added, "Lois, can I ask you something?"

"Yes," she whispered

"I want you to be happy. I want to be with you, but I know there are complications. Most of all I want what is best for you and Jason. I just… I need to know if you'll ever be able to look at me again the way you used to."

As she floated beneath the stars, holding on to Clark Kent, she experienced a new sense of wonder, a new sense of possibilities. But she had been transfixed by his charm before. _Never again_, she told herself. _Never again will I let him fool me, will I let him hurt me or Jason_. The betrayal she felt still ran too deep.

"No, no. I don't think I can." She looked him straight in the eye. "Take me down now."

…..

It was New Year's Eve, only little less than a week since their conversation, _the_ conversation that had changed her life. Clark had been avoiding her at work but she watched him out of the corner of her eye, trying to understand this person - both sides of him.

Lois had managed to avoid confrontation with him throughout the entire workday. She and Richard were about to leave for the evening, when her fiancé called out to Clark.

"Hey, Clark, will we see you at the pub tonight?"

Several people from work were planning to ring in the New Year at a bar down the street from _The Daily Planet_. Lois didn't want to go but Richard insisted that she should. She had never liked the holiday season, but this year it seemed like the holidays, and their social obligations, would never come to an end. Why did people celebrate the New Year anyway? _It's just a new month on the calendar; it's not like things really change._

But then again, everything had just changed for her.

"Oh, I don't think so," Clark replied. "I've got some things to do."

_This is the mastermind who outwitted me all these years_, Lois thought spitefully to herself.

"Oh, come on," Richard insisted. "You have to come. Everyone'll be there. Lois, tell Clark that he should come."

She shot her fiancé a vengeful look.

"Yes, Clark. You should come."

"Alright," Clark finally agreed.

"You could have sounded more convincing…" Richard said as they entered the elevator. "Don't you want him there?"

"No, not really."

…….

Lois knew that he had overheard her in the elevator and she didn't think he would have the audacity to show up at the pub. But he did. Just as the ball was about to drop, she noticed him standing across the room. Their eyes met for a split second. Before the count down had even ended, she reached over and kissed Richard passionately.

"Wow," her fiancé said as they came up for air amid a haze of champagne and confetti. "Happy New Year to you, too."

"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I want us to start fresh this year."

"I like that idea," he replied.

Lois purposely did not look back at Clark. She didn't need to. Instead, she threw her arms around Richard and kissed him again.

The entire pub began ringing with a drunken rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

_Should old acquaintance be forgot,_

_And never brought to mind?_

As she heard the lyrics, she deepened her kiss with Richard and thought - _if only, if only._

* * *

The end… for now. Be sure to check out my Valentine's Day fic for 12-Days-of-Clois to see what happens next! 


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